stock vs aftermarket - for reals? handling?

[Fitcious]

so ive been reading a lot about magazine tests and people on this forum regarding the current Honda Fits. My question is this:

Everyone seems to praise the handling of the fit in stock form...i have never pushed my fit to the limit where i go "wow, this little car can handle pretty well"...and now i have eibach prokit on it.

people on the forum say how once they install the springs (which ever brand they are) on how they love the look and how they feel less body roll and its stiffer, etc. BUT does the car actually HANDLE better than a stock fit? meaning, can a stock fit be pushed to the limit more than a "lowered" one?

[JCrimson]

i like this.

[Fitcious]

^huh? sarcasm?

[Hootie]

Yes, lowering springs can improve the handling by having a different (usually stiffer) spring rate and the causing car's center of gravity to be lower.

[accordguyintake]

...not really. I thought it did until i drove my car really hard. Super bumpy on the canyons and could not absorb bumps at all. being uncontrolled and bouncing everywhere is no good. sure it may reduce movement over stock springs but unless your stock shocks can handle it (which is not the case with Fits)... it wont be so great. I'm speaking from experience from T1R lowering springs but im sure other brands will yield quite similar results. Maybe swift is okay though since the drop is minimal

[Fitcious]

how much does yours drop by?

[shazaam]

yea, if you bottom out your shocks...wells yea, it'd make more sense to have a higher sping/one that isn't gonna bottom them out. or get shorter dampers/ones that are made for lowered vehicles like the t1r or showas.

[Selden]

Originally Posted by shazaam

yea, if you bottom out your shocks...wells yea, it'd make more sense to have a higher sping/one that isn't gonna bottom them out. or get shorter dampers/ones that are made for lowered vehicles like the t1r or showas.

It's not a matter of bottoming out the shocks; the damping rates are too soft to work properly with stiffer springs. Coilovers that allow you to adjust the preload on each of the four wheels to balance the suspension should improve handling. Most of my experience with suspension tuning is with motorcycles, but good shocks and springs, properly set up, should give you both better handling and a more comfortable ride.

[accordguyintake]

mine is a pretty deep drop, like 1.5' in the front but the rear is weak.. like maybe 0.8' AFTER cutting 1/2 a coil =0

[JDMxGE8]

First, lowering the center of gravity definitely helps cornering performance. Also, having stiffer spring rates, especially the front will decrease understeer. I agree that the GD3/GE8 can handle pretty well in stock form, but upgrading the suspension will further increase cornering performance. Don't forget things like larger diameter sway bars and sticky tires help too.

[shazaam]

Originally Posted by Selden

It's not a matter of bottoming out the shocks; the damping rates are too soft to work properly with stiffer springs. Coilovers that allow you to adjust the preload on each of the four wheels to balance the suspension should improve handling. Most of my experience with suspension tuning is with motorcycles, but good shocks and springs, properly set up, should give you both better handling and a more comfortable ride.

yea, I'm not gonna post anymore at 4 30am
t1r...perty sure showas also are adjustable dampers also to make em "stiffer"/"softer" which works inline with the springs...certain damping force for specific spring rates.

[kelsodeez]

Originally Posted by JDMxGE8

First, lowering the center of gravity definitely helps cornering performance. Also, having stiffer spring rates, especially the front will decrease understeer. I agree that the GD3/GE8 can handle pretty well in stock form, but upgrading the suspension will further increase cornering performance. Don't forget things like larger diameter sway bars and sticky tires help too.

100% agree with this post. the biggest problem with the fits handling under extreme conditions is wheel hop. having stiffer springs will help this, having stiffer dampers will help even further but the biggest issue causing the wheel hop is the cheese-like engine mounts. out of all of the suspension mods i have done, getting new engine mounts had the most drastic effect to the handling.

[eldaino]

Originally Posted by Selden

It's not a matter of bottoming out the shocks; the damping rates are too soft to work properly with stiffer springs. Coilovers that allow you to adjust the preload on each of the four wheels to balance the suspension should improve handling. Most of my experience with suspension tuning is with motorcycles, but good shocks and springs, properly set up, should give you both better handling and a more comfortable ride.

completely agree.


dont buy springs unless you have matching dampers, or get a full coilover setup.

i dont car how 'sick' your cars looks lowered if it cant handle worth a crap.
its kinda like the most common way to rice a car.


to the original poster:

something that is VERY important to remember is this: lowering springs alone will give you the 'impression' you are handling better, by lowering the center of gravity. one thing is for sure: i know very few fit owners who have conducted instrumented handling tests to prove if springs alone help one way or the other...(actually i know none, track times are to variable, as thats really dependent on the driver too.)

for some, feeling like you handle better is enough, but not for me personally. going by general suspension rules/know-how, springs alone wont really do anything but smooth out your ride on super smooth roads and make your car look better. (and add resistance to crosswinds. but if you are after that, might as well go the whole nine yards right?)

take the mini cooper/cooper s. i guarantee you that car feels like it can be pushed to no limits....limits that are higher than a GTI, wrx, ms3, si, etc. but the fact of the matter is it doesn't. it may feel like it handles better than those aforementioned, but the numbers are either just on par or slightly worse.

granted its YOUR car, how it feels to YOU is whats most important...but if you never know what it feels like to do things the right way, you'll never know how great your car can be. plus your question was seeking a techincal answer so there you go.

[OneStopCustoms]

After driving a fit for 2 years every week in a stock suspension through the tujunga canyons, the oem suspension is awesome and hugs the road. Probably it's bc I'm used to driving in canyons all the time and knowing how to truely corner helps with achieving your car performance? All I'm saying is, I would love to install some coilovers but bumpy isn't good in "real cornering" as opposed to "race track/fwy cornering."

IMHO

[kenchan]

Originally Posted by Fitcious

so ive been reading a lot about magazine tests and people on this forum regarding the current Honda Fits. My question is this:

Everyone seems to praise the handling of the fit in stock form...i have never pushed my fit to the limit where i go "wow, this little car can handle pretty well"...and now i have eibach prokit on it.

people on the forum say how once they install the springs (which ever brand they are) on how they love the look and how they feel less body roll and its stiffer, etc. BUT does the car actually HANDLE better than a stock fit? meaning, can a stock fit be pushed to the limit more than a "lowered" one?

when you lower your fit you're putting the car's suspension geometry closer to the tolerance limits.

and desite all the hype and marketing schemes, you cant just change one part of the suspension and expect it to handle like a race car. car tuning is all about balance (compromise). you take some you loose some.

if you want to get higher slalom speeds and lateral g's, start by getting better tires. the car will tell you wat
you need to do next.